On delight, user experience and electronic candles

I’m sitting outside on a busy street in central Kuala Lumpur with a bunch of mates when a peddler walks up. I am very sceptical of street sellers in general, and as a matter of principle never buy knick-knacks. To me they are clutter. “Another street seller who’s out of luck”, I think to myself.

The peddler pulls out a small cardboard box and extracts a colourful cylinder from within. He then proceeds to blow a tiny bit of air into the cylinder. The thing flickers, then lights up. It’s an electronic candle! All the while my friends are telling me how cool these things are, having already bought some earlier that evening.